Monster Energy Drinks Acquired By Coca Cola Soon? [Rumor]

This isn’t the first time there’s been rumors about Monster Beverage Corporation being a target for Coca Cola acquisitions. Back in 2011, the two companies did indeed attempt to hammer out a deal but negotiations ultimately fell apart. Then, in 2012, the Wall Street Journal sparked a rumor that claimed Coke might buy Monster drinks for around $11 billion. But Coca-Cola representatives shot down that idea at the time, saying they were not in any discussions to have Monster acquired, although inside sources claimed these talks were private.

But in 2014 these rumors still haven’t died down although this time Bloomberg is apparently the news source which started the latest round of speculation. But this time the acquisition would be more costly since Monster energy drinks are now estimated to be worth a cool $16 billion. The Monster stock price caused its market value to peak at $13.9 billion in 2012, but recently it was worth a little over $11 billion.

Regardless, Jack Russo, a St. Louis-based analyst at Edward Jones & Co., says it would still be worth it:

“It’s going to be an expensive acquisition because of the growth. Certainly any buyer that wants to get into this category has to look at the regulatory environment and see that there are a lot more alarm bells going off about energy drinks. Those two things need to be weighed. [But] a transaction like this would give a buyer a huge, huge base in the energy drink category.”

The biggest reason the Monster acquisition makes sense is due to the distribution system. Monster drinks rely on Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola to get to market, while Coke has their own distribution.